Last week, the Nationals agreed to an eight-year extension with catcher Keibert Ruiz that guaranteed $50MM. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the specifics of the deal this evening. The 24-year-old will receive a $3MM signing bonus, with salary breakdowns as follows:
- $1MM in 2023
- $6MM in 2024
- $5MM annually between 2025-27
- $7MM in 2028
- $9MM annually between 2029-30
Reports last week indicated the deal contained club options covering the 2031 and ’32 seasons, though the value of those provisions hadn’t previously been known. Heyman now pegs the option values at $12MM and $14MM, respectively. There are no buyouts on the options. That structure takes the maximum value of Ruiz’s deal to ten years, $76MM if both club options are exercised.
Depending on the club options, Ruiz is now set to hit free agency for the first time follow his age-31, -32, or -33 season. The Nationals clearly believe that he can blossom into the high quality two-way catcher his status as a former top prospect would imply. In exchange for relinquishing as many as five would-be free agent years, Ruiz locks in a healthy payday after accruing just over one year of service time since his big league debut in 2020 with the Dodgers.
To this point, Ruiz has appeared in 143 games, slashing .255/.315/.374 in his 537 plate appearances in the majors. That slash line is good for a slightly below average 93 wRC+, though it’s worth noting that figure actually makes him a slightly above average hitter for the catcher position. Ruiz has been a slightly below average catcher defensively according to both DRS (-5) and Statcast’s framing metric, which puts him in the 23rd percentile of qualified catchers. Ruiz should get plenty of opportunity to develop his skills on the rebuilding Nationals, where he’s slated to be the primary catcher with fellow youngster Riley Adams servings as his backup.
Nice move by the Nationals. Now work on getting Abrams and Garcia locked up as well
Nah, let’s wait and see if Abrams and Garcia blossom into players we wanna keep long term. So far, neither have.
Yeah, give Abrams who has shown zero slug in the majors an extension while being years away from arbitration……
Yes!!! And extend Corbin
Abrams belongs in the minors right now. Garcia probably as well.
No wonder he fired Boras. Boras probably would’ve laughed at this deal..If this kid becomes a star he might regret this but what 24 year old wouldn’t want a 3m signing bonus. Hope it works out for him in the end.
I couldn’t agree more with what you said.
I wonder if Boras sees part of his job as getting these young guys to delay gratification, and in return maximize Boras’ cut.
I do understand why a player would want to book a guaranteed multi million $ contract.
Scott doesn’t have to worry about going broke if he gets injured. Those option years at the end can end up looking like incredible steals or wasting 8 digits a year.
You clearly do not understand what an “agent” legally means
Boras is one of the best. Being the best comes with strategies and he is obviously very upfront with his clients what the strategy will be. Wait for the right bidder. Not everyone wants to trust their abilities and worry about finances. But there’s no way to argue boras rarely if every undersells his client’s earning potential. That’s *exactly* what an agent is supposed to do
You clearly don’t have reading comprehension. I was only making observations and nothing you said added any value to the conversation. There’s a reason why so many people dislike talking with you. You don’t know baseball beforemcourt. I saw you going down commenting on every post and I knew you’d respond to me because you don’t have a life. You and blueskyla are the same people anyway
Boras is only successful if those he represents are happy. An agent must do what their clients want, and if not they are fired.
He won’t become a star because he now has a guaranteed income, enough for life and then some.
Most professionals take pride in their work. Sorry you can’t grasp that concept
Not to mention that the job involves publicly performing that work every day in a stadium on live tv.
Ruiz’s ceiling is an average major league hitter. An extension was unnecessary this early into his service time.
i mean, he’s a career 93 wRC+ catcher after a year in the majors, with elite bat to ball skills shown in the minors and majors. It’s clearly been established that players can learn to hit for power. You don’t have to look further than former National Trea Turner.
You’re making some large assumptions about a 24 year old’s ability to improve…
I missed the edit window, but one more point. Now that Ruiz has locked in a payday, wouldn’t you imagine he’s more open to tinkering with swing mechanics than ever before?
Trea Turner was a way better hitter at 23 than Ruiz is now. There’s just nothing overly impressive about Ruiz. Catching is a weak position offensively so anyone with an ounce of offensive upside looks good.
And yet, there’s probably all of 5-10 teams that are more settled at catcher and happy with their starter’s potential than Washington?
Positional value is a thing. So is changing swing mechanics to tap into more power. A player has to be willing to change. A fringe offensive guy who needs his bat to play isn’t the guy revamping swings in the offseason. A guy with a 10 year deal does whatever his team suggests. Or at least, logically, is more open to changes. Nothing has been reported about Ruiz ever to suggest there’s any reason he wouldn’t listen to coaches if approached
Now it’s on Wash to get it in motion. But pretending he’s capped at 24 and therefore there’s nothing to project is a very simple way to approach this topic
And thru age 25, Trea was still a 100 OPS+ bat. League average
two way catcher – catches lefties and righties.
no need to platoon.
I’ve never heard of a catcher that doesn’t catch both lefties and righties.
No no no you both don’t understand what a two way catcher means, it means that he can go to the mound and get back home w/o getting lost
MLB used to hold a postseason All Star game to pay for players’ pensions, we should bring that back and just give all the money to the poor catchers.